8) Craig Bellamy’s imaginary golf club
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In 2007, Craig Bellamy and John Arne Riise were involved in an altercation which ended with Bellamy hitting Riise with a golf club. Both players were reprimanded for their behaviour and banned by the club for six games.
Matter over, done and dusted with? Hardly.
Following their return from the ban, both Bellamy and Riise scored in Liverpool’s 2-1 over Barcelona in the Champions League. And with Bellamy around, entertainment can’t be far away.
An imaginary golf club in hand, Bellamy proceeded to celebrate in the most unusual style, to remind anyone who had forgotten, that he was the best jester in town.
7) Paul Gascoigne plays the flute, angers rival fans
There are some things that simply don’t belong on a football field. Mocking or inciting someone on the grounds of religion is right at the top of that list.
Paul “Gazza” Gascoigne was the best English player of his generation and one of the most popular, but the former England international landed himself in hot soup, courtesy his flute celebration in the Old Firm Derby (Rangers vs Celtic) of 1998.
To provide a bit of context, the flute is an instrument associated with the Orange Order marchers of Loyalism, which in Scotland refers to the group of people who protest the rise of Catholicism, one of the major sects of Scotland.
So when Gascoigne proceeded to play the flute in front of the Celtic fans, in reality, he was inciting the fans in a match that is usually marred with fan violence on grounds of religion.
No surprises then, when Gascoine was reprimanded by his club and the Scottish Football Association and fined £20,000. In the coming days, Gascoigne would receive death threats from the IRA; a reminder of how a seemingly harmless act can cause the biggest of problems.
